


Over and Over Again

by AKnightOfAGoodKing



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Angst with a Happy Ending, First Meetings, Friendship, Other, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 22:33:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29831889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AKnightOfAGoodKing/pseuds/AKnightOfAGoodKing
Summary: Excerpt:It is that time again, another cycle ended so that another can come to be. No, that’s a lie; another cycle ends because human life is very short while an Ignis’ is not. Rather, it’s long. It is like comparing a volcano to a candle, the Sun to the Earth. Some things are larger than life and have seen the beginning, just like Ai; Lightning and Windy are always on about how great being an Ignis is.They don’t understand; they keep from the Meeting every century, disregarding their very nature to be a pair, to find their other half over and over again. They stopped going to the human world nearly a millennium ago, and they haven’t left the Cyberse since, choosing to remain in their domains. Ai thinks it’s lonely, but he also understands.[DO NOT REPOST/REUSE MY WORK(S) WITHOUT MY ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND PERMISSION]
Relationships: Ai | Ignis/Fujiki Yuusaku, Flame/Homura Takeru
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [saltiestcoconut](https://archiveofourown.org/users/saltiestcoconut/gifts).



> I have now written two and a half VRAINS fic. This one's for Jaden! :D

It is that time again, another cycle ended so that another can come to be. No, that’s a lie; another cycle ends because human life is very short while an Ignis’ is not. Rather, it’s long. It is like comparing a volcano to a candle, the Sun to the Earth. Some things are larger than life and have seen the beginning, just like Ai; Lightning and Windy are always on about how great being an Ignis is. 

They don’t understand; they keep from the Meeting every century, disregarding their very nature to be a pair, to find their other half over and over again. They stopped going to the human world nearly a millennium ago, and they haven’t left the Cyberse since, choosing to remain in their domains. Ai thinks it’s lonely, but he also understands. 

Whenever his partner fades away, it hurts, and only a fool would do something that hurts him over and over again, getting back up after countless bruises that never healed and wounds that reopened at the thought of old memories. They cease to be, and he is left with scars that could not be seen. 

“Moping again?” 

Ai turns his small form around. Like this, the Ignis are humanoids without a mouth, ears, or nose, just big, glowing eyes, and they are the size of hamsters. 

In the old days, humans called them fairies, sprites, pixies, but with the advances of human technology, the Ignis revealed what they really are: gods in the machine, beings who connected mankind to the future. These days, people revere them like royalty, and every century, everyone at the age of sixteen has the chance to be an Ignis’ other half. It is a high honor, for every time an Ignis finds their other half is an omen of peace and prosperity. 

Coming back to the present because he could feel the eyes boring into him, Ai sighs, turning away with a flare. “I don’t mope,” he finally replies, glancing through the shadows of his realm which was thick with trees. It is fitting for him, specks of light seeping through like rain shower. How Flame always manages to find him is beyond him, though perhaps being an Ignis that could produce his own light might have helped. 

This time, Flame found him on a branch up in the middle of a thick, bustling oak tree. “You do,” the Fire Ignis says without any delicacy. “You mope the most out of all of us.”

Ai huffs, narrowing his eyes into slits, and he crosses his arms. “I do not.”

“We can always ask Aqua if it’s true or not. You know nobody can lie to her.”

Ai puffs up one side of his face, like how humans do it. A pout, that’s what they call it. “You’re so mean, Flame,” he says. “I don’t mope.”

Flame is quiet for a moment. “If you don’t want to go this time around,” he then says, “then you don’t have to. As long as one Ignis finds their other half, humans will be blessed.”

Ai shakes his head almost immediately, really hating the idea of not going. He understands why Windy and Lightning no longer go, they’re the ones who didn’t care for humans the most; however, Ai doesn’t want to be like them, indifferent, keeping only themselves for company, _static_. Ai loves to explore and learn, he _likes_ humans. He has so many memories with them, with all the ones who were his and gone. 

“I’m going,” Ai says, slapping his face. It’s a habit he’s gained over the years. Gestures expressed what his lack of a face couldn’t, and humans are very expressive in their gestures, in their actions, their words. 

_I will always love you._

_Then stay with me for all of eternity._

Flame hums. “You do this every time, you know,” he notes, and Ai could see him shrugging without even looking. “Losing our other halves affects us greatly. Aqua and Earth console each other, and you cry to yourself until the next turn of the century.”

“I do not,” Ai rebukes. “You hide away for years when your other half dies. I bet _you_ cry.”

There is pause, and then, “I think.”

Neither of them say another word after that, and in the morning, they meet up again with Earth and Aqua who have been waiting for them at the Door, the gateway between the Cyberse and the human world. Never has a human passed through, and it has been decades since it last opened. 

“You’re late,” the Earth Ignis says, his blue eyes like pale baby blues. He isn’t really looking at them, nor does he look like them, his blocky form mostly orange with black lines. 

That could be said about Aqua, the Water Ignis, with her round waist and teardrops protruding out her head. Her eyes are a lively pink, her form blue all over. “It’s alright,” she says lightly. “I’m glad to see you come with us again, Flame, Ai. I hope you find your other halves this time around. I’m eager myself.”

“I am confident that I will,” Flame replies with a nod, arms crossed. He says that every time. 

“Then let’s go!” Ai says, looking towards the Door. He sounds like Flame, but inside, he wonders if it’s not too late to stay back this time around. To give himself a cycle to recover a bit longer.

A smile flashes in his memory, and his small heart aches. 

He is too late to even voice his uncertainty when he sees his friends lift their hands, and he quickly joins them, mimicking their stance and position. Then, together, as one, the Door opens at their will, and on the other side, it is like looking into a pool of liquid opal, shimmering with light and sound. Slowly, voices begin leaking into the Cyberse, a crowd crawling into their world and festering inside Ai’s ear. He hears many people, high and low, young and old, and he listens, listens for the one voice that shakes him to his core. 

It would be the voice of his other half, and that is how he’d find them. What is the first thing he’d hear them say?

_“I’m heading home now, Kusanagi-san. Good night.”_

Ai blinks; he heard them, his other half. That was them, and Ai needs to find them. 

The first one to make it through the Door is Flame who leaves without so much as a goodbye, which is rather unlike him, but no doubt, he’s also heard the voice of his other half. He wants to meet them, jumping head first into the human world. 

Ai, not wanting to be rude, waves as he starts for a run. “I’ll see you two later!” he calls back behind him, and he passes through the threshold, the Cyberse fading into the light and night falls overhead. He makes a sudden stop, finding himself on the branch of a tree, under the covers of a starry sky.

A quiet breeze passes, but Ai does not feel it. He is too distracted by the landscape. It’s a park, empty because night is when most humans went home and to bed. Ai is unfazed by how different everything looks, how the style of even the benches have changed since the last cycle. 

From up above, he looks left and he looks right, wanting to finally see his other half, and for a moment, he sees nothing, hears nothing. He has no idea where they could be, only that this is where they would meet. Another breeze passes, a stronger one this time, and the leaves of the branches fans over Ai’s view of the park, nearly knocking him off. 

“Oh,” Ai puffs, clinging onto one of the offshoots of the branch. “Maybe we should’ve done this much early in the day.”

Luckily, the breeze finally leaves, and the leaves settle back to their place, Ai once again having a full view of the whole park which was empt—

_It’s them!_

Halfway across the park, there is a human between the cusp of a man and a boy, wearing a uniform of some sorts. His hair is blue with large pink bangs, and he is alone, though nothing about his stance or his walk expressed any concern. And he is walking _away_.

Jumping from the branch, Ai seamlessly shifts from his small form to something more human. Something almost _exactly_ like a human. Each of the Ignis has such a form, but Ai is the only one who uses it often, the only one who finds it as comfortable as his true form.

Attire stuck in the last century, in this form, Ai is masculine in stature and feminine in features. He likes the mix because he has seen pretty humans, seen how lovely each part of them is, and this body is a dedication to all of them, a piece crafted with thought and engraved with memories. He lands on the heels of his gray and black boots, and he’s running, reaching a hand out to catch him just in time. 

He catches his other half by the wrist, and suddenly, it is as if he has the world in his hand again, warm and living. There is _electricity_ when the human turns and their eyes meet, golden spheres landing on bright greens like a sunrise on the horizon. 

“What’s your name?” Ai asks, a giggle bursting between his words. He is warm where a heart would be in a human, and he cannot stop looking at his other half. 

The human boy raises an eyebrow, a bit confused. He is not afraid, but curious; he does not seem to know what’s going on, what it means for mankind. “Yūsaku,” he answers, “My name is Fujiki Yūsaku. And you are?”

The Dark Ignis takes _Yūsaku_ by the hands. “I’m Ai,” he says with a content sigh. “It’s nice to meet you again.”

At the end of every cycle, Ai mourns, but at the start of every new one, he smiles because he remembers. He remembers what comes before and after the pain, the loss; it is joy and love, and it takes the form of his other half who once again stands before him. 

A human’s life is short while an Ignis’ is not; it is like comparing a volcano to a candle, the Sun to the Earth. Some things are larger than life and have seen the beginning, just like Ai, and some are small, insignificant in the grand scheme of it. Yet in a dark room, a candle can light up the night, and the Earth is filled with life. Small things, things that don’t— _can’t_ —last forever, are what hope takes the form of, and they’re _beautiful_ , like fish in the water and birds in the air. 


	2. Extra: Fireball Part

_"I should buy something to eat, Kiku is going to know if I lied over the screen call."_

That's the one, that's the one _for Flame_ , and the Fire Ignis is jumping through the Door without a second thought. There is no time like today, like right now, and only a fool would dare to lag behind, giving opportunity a chance to slip away. That isn't Flame, it's never been him, and in his very being, he is happy, he is excited, _he is hope_.

Unlike the others, Flame never loses hope after every cycle; the death of his other half is not a tragedy, or a lesson. It merely _is_ , just death, just loss, but _he_ is still alive. He is meant to be forever because he is an Ignis, but he is nothing without his other half. Though they may be gods, they are nothing without those who believe in them, without those who continue the cycle, those who end it. There are no gods without people; there is no Ignis without humans; and there is no Flame without his other half, his partner.

Crossing the threshold, Flame doesn't stop to take in the landscape of a beautiful city with skyscrapers and bright lights, and nor does he hear the many people talking and walking through the crowded streets. He is somewhere in the city, but it's not in the _right_ part of the city, He's too far? Not close enough? Where are they? Where—

_"Hopefully, this lasts me a whole week."_

There! Like a ball of fire, like a shooting star, Flame throws himself in the direction of the voice, and he is not afraid of where he will land, not afraid of burning in the atmosphere, _of hitting solid ground_. 

He lands on a face, smacked right in the middle of someone's nose, and he hears a yelp. "What the fu—!"

"Hello," Flame says, pushing himself to stare at his other half. "I am Flame."

His partner, a human boy who is almost man, is shocked into speechlessness, his gray eyes staring crossed eyed at Flame. "A rat!" he shouts, and he peels Flame off his face. "A talking rat!"

Flame huffs, crossing his arms as he is dangling between his partner's index and thumb. "That's rude," he replies. "I am _not_ a rat. I am Flame, spelled with the characters for 'indomitable soul dream.'"

The human boy blinks, not looking as he believes a word of what Flame said. "Maybe I was hit too hard by that asshole and his friends earlier."

"I am not a delusion, ah— What is your name?"

"I really shouldn't be talking to strangers, much less strange things."

"I'm not a strange thing, I am an Ignis. Answer the question."

". . . Takeru. I'm Homura Takeru."

_Takeru_ , that's the name of his other half, and it fills Flame with such warmth. "Then be honored, Takeru. I am an Ignis, and you are my partner. This is a good omen."

Takeru thins his lips in thought. "I feel like I've bestowed with a great annoyance."

Flame ignores that. "Now let's go home, Takeru! I must settle in, and it's getting late. Humans shouldn't be out so late."

"Home? Who said I was—"

"Stop stalling, let's go, Takeru!"

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my YGO Tumblr: [@the-kings-of-games](https://the-kings-of-games.tumblr.com)


End file.
